1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to stamping processes and presses and in particular to a computer controlled programmable stamping apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Stamping presses for use in cutting, blanking and shaping sheet metal stock have been known for many years. The prior art presses at best would be semi-automatic in operation. However, when changing from one work piece to another the die sets would have to be manually changed in the press whenever a new type of work piece was to be produced. Therefore, whenever a small number of work pieces were to be created during a run the time and labor needed to change the setup of the press manually is substantial. Furthermore, the changing and setup of the press creates lost press time which is valuable to a manufacturing company. Therefore, all of the prior art presses had a manual set of steps necessary in order to change over to a new type of work piece so that a different run can occur.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a completely automatic die that does not need manual adjustments in between different runs of work pieces. There is also a need for a computer controlled die such that a computer controls most pertinent functions in creating the different die positions and cam punch positions for each new work piece.